


First Swings Anew

by Caraidean



Series: More Than Technique [4]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: F/M, Mist continues to be That Sister
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 14:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13366743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caraidean/pseuds/Caraidean
Summary: Ike and Mia have their first spar after accepting their relationship, and Mist discovers them.





	First Swings Anew

“I’m not going to be holding back just ‘cause it’s different now, you know.” 

Ike raised an eyebrow at Mia at those words, as if he’d ever questioned it. Mia just chuckled, carefully walking in circles around her commander with a wary eye on his form. She was both trying to figure out his guard, but also attempt to piece together his health. He’d been out of bed far earlier than Rhys had suggested, but for the most part he seemed perfectly healthy.

“I thought we said we didn’t want it to be different.” Ike said after a long moment, getting a small laugh from his sparring partner. She shook her head, taking a few paces back in case it was a trick.

“Sure. But I don’t know, maybe you’ve been listening to some of Mist’s stories and letting them get in your head.” She chided gently, sliding back into an offensive stance. “You know…treating your women right, chivalry, all that-”

She blurred forwards into motion, words vanishing for the twenty seconds as they clashed. When they separated, no real change in who was 'winning’ - the bout had been nothing but judging each other’s strength, gauging weaknesses for the next real attack - she picked it up as effortlessly as she’d started, as if nothing happened.

“-rubbish.” She finished with a grin. Ike blinked, trying to focus on her stance instead of what she was saying.

“I’m pretty sure that this  _is_  treating you right.” He said, slightly confused. Mia just laughed, shaking her head in amusement.

“Aw, babe. You know all the right things to say.” She teased, before diving forwards. This clash was more serious, blades barely touching each other as she tried to worm her way around his guard with feints, Ike’s own counterattacks sliding in and out of her guard as she danced away. The feeling of Alondite’s ranged attack had her paranoid, but her wits were about her enough to not over-commit to a dodge.

Ike didn’t even have Ragnell right now. She didn’t need to worry about that. Eventually, however, she made a mistake - like she always did - and the heavy flat of Ike’s blade smacked into her side, knocking her to the ground with a gasp. Groaning, she clutched her side for a second - before pushing herself back up to her feet and nodding at him.

“Zero to ninety-one.” She said, cheerfully. Ike laughed, bemused, and the two went back to work on each other. Any fears Mia’d had about his injury keeping him down were allayed by his bladework, which was as strong and confident as ever. Mia decided to use a new tactic - a form she’d picked up during the Mad King’s War, and trained a little more in whenever she’d had the time to corner Marcia and worm it out of her. While she used a lance, this was apparently a style that Tanith used on occasion when forced to dismount. She stepped inside his guard when he slashed, but rather than going for a normal attack grabbed her sword by the blade, half-swording and keeping as close to him as she could.

Ike was caught off guard, but only for a moment - Mia was clumsy with it, and it showed. He managed to turn the first few blows aside, glancing off the leather of his armor before adopting an unusual tactic. One arm wrapped around her back, pulling her into a tight hug with her sword trapped between their bodies.

“Not fair.”  Mia mumbled in protest, Ike laughing and tapping the side of his blade against her thigh to end the bout. Mia sighed, backing off and letting them get back into their starting stances, mumbling the updated count under her breath.

“I think your new style has some problems.” Ike said after a moment, getting a shrug from Mia.

“Honestly, it was worth a shot.” She replied, and then they clashed again. A violent dance of steel, the swords sparking as they collided, the two having silently agreed to stop holding back for the third bout of the morning. They’d long since stopped using training swords, more than trusting their partner to be able to pull back any truly lethal blows - although it still freaked Rhys out something awful, which Mia was more than happy to tease the healer about.

“Ah!” Mia gasped in pain eventually, Ettard finally sliding past her guard again and opening up a long gash on her arm. Wincing, she dropped her sword - not really having much choice in the matter - and pouted a little at yet another clean set of defeats, as Ike took a step forward to inspect the cut.

“It’s not too deep. Should be fine.” He said after a few moments, patting her on her good shoulder. They stood, awkward as Mia cradled her inured arm in her free hand, eventually Ike sighing and leaning forwards to press a soft kiss to her lips.

“You almost had me there.” He said, the same words they’d exchanged for almost four years now. Mia laughed and gave a rote reply, although there was something warmer to the exchange now, a kind and loving note in what was normally a breezy exchange of words to mark the end of the fight.

“Yeah, and I’ll get you next time.”

They smiled at each other, Mia resting a splayed palm over his chest as she quietly pressed another kiss to his lips. That had been the intended end of their intimate moment, away from the rest of the camp as they dueled in the rising sun, but a loud shriek showed that any hopes they’d had of keeping the moment private had just been ruined.

“It’s Mist, isn’t it.” Ike said, eyes shut. He’d trusted Soren to keep quiet about it, but considering that Mia and he did this every morning, he should have expected either her or Rhys to show up. Mia winced and, slowly, turned to look over at the source of the sound.

“Yeah.” She replied, and then they were swarmed. Mist’s babbled questions had only lasted a few moments before she realized that, yes, Mia was injured, and let out a long groan before running her healing staff along her arm.

“Ike! How come you didn’t tell me you two were a thing?” She protested, glaring at him as she healed Mia. Ike shrugged his shoulders, a slightly dark look crossing his face for a moment.

“I don’t really see how it’s any of your business, Mist.” He said, getting an offended gasp from Mist. For once able to read the situation, Mia interjected herself, patient as she could be considering the circumstances.

“Mist, we just wanted to keep it quiet. We weren’t even sure it was going to work out.” She told her, getting an understanding frown from the healer. Once her arm was done she flexed it, checking that she hadn’t missed any nerve damage or the like, and nodded in satisfaction. “Wow. You get better every day, don’t you?” “Thanks.” Mist beamed, before recognizing the clumsy attempt at changing the subject for what it was. “Hey, no you don’t! Come on, how long has this been going on for? Two years? Three? Right from when you were on the boat? …Mia, be honest with me, was duel at dawn a euphemism this entire time?”

“No!” Mia protested, turning scarlet. She tried to defend herself from the questions, until Ike stepped in to save her from his sister.

“Last week.” He said bluntly. Mist opened her mouth to say something, paused, and visibly did some date-checking in her head. Then she winced and bowed her head, mumbling an apology.

“…oh. Right. Sorry.” She said quietly, before her eyes widened as she realized something. “Oh, wait! Mia, that means that when you-”

“Can we not talk about this?” She asked in frustration, hugging her arm to her side and wincing at the memory of the 'duel’. She took a deep breath, trying to fight off the shakes that had come the last two times she thought about that fight.

She’d never felt so outclassed in her life, nor as close to death as she had in that moment. Even her temporary stare-down with Petrine hadn’t felt as…hopeless. Ike hadn’t taken the reminder well either, glaring at his sister and putting a reassuring hand on Mia’s shoulder.

“ _ **Mist**_.” He said, sternly, and the teenaged healer quieted down. She looked like she was about to say something, but the quiet and suddenly somber mood made her think better of it, making her close her eyes and just mumble an apology before leaving.

“Well, great.” Ike said after a few moments of silence, rolling his eyes. “Now that she knows, it’s only a matter of time until everyone else does. First she’s going to tell Titania, and from there…”

“Oh, no.” Mia froze at the idea of Titania finding out, eyes wide. “She’s not going to lecture us, is she?”

Ike opened his mouth, at first to reply to a negative - before realizing that, in horror, the answer was likely 'yes’. He shuddered, glancing at his sparring partner turned lover and squeezing her shoulder lightly.

“Probably.” He admitted, making Mia shudder at the idea. Titania’s lectures were bad enough when it was just about her actions on the battlefield, and she could already hear the lecture they’d receive for this.

“…I’ve got to go do, well…commander stuff.” Ike said lamely, not really sure how else to describe it. Mia snorted, glad for at least some kind of way to relieve the tension, and nodded.

“Alright, boss. You go do commander stuff.” She said jokingly, patting his hand on her shoulder with a wide smile. “I’ll just go and check up on a few things. See you later.”

“Right. Later.” Ike agreed, removing his hand almost reluctantly. They stood together, awkward for a few more minutes - enough to make them nervous about how the other was taking this, until finally Mia worked up the courage.

“Bye.” She said, a slight blush on her cheeks, and they parted. This…was going to take some more getting used to than either of them had initially thought.


End file.
